I Don't Hate Hardware

As you all probably know by now, I have another blog that I started last February for work.  My idea for that blog was to teach my customers (hardware suppliers) and clients (architects) about hardware in a fun and painless way.  I know it's not the most exciting topic - door hardware - but for people in the hardware industry who DO find it interesting, there isn't currently another blog like it.

As I had hoped, the local customers we have introduced the site to have had really good things to say about it, and there are quite a few loyal readers who visit the site daily or weekly.  They also use it to find answers to their hardware-related code questions, so I'm actually spending less time answering emails and phone calls about code questions.

In addition to the readers who access the site directly, there are people who find it by searching "door closer adjustment", "where are panic devices required", "i hate hardware", or some other related topic via a search engine.  To date, people from almost 60 countries have visited the site.  A reader from Israel recently suggested that I do an industry profile on a colleague of his..."a big fan of the website"...in Saudi Arabia.  I find this fascinating, really.

What amazed me most was how many "normal people" (ie. not "hardware people") read the hardware blog.  Why would you want to read about hardware?  Don't you have anything you'd rather be doing??  The blog now has a Facebook Fan Page, and through the miracle of social networking, my aunt found the blog and became a fan.  I don't know my aunt well...we've probably seen each other less than 10 times in the last 30 years, so she is not biased because we're related.  She left a comment on the hardware blog that was so touching to me, because it very eloquently states that I'm meeting my goal.  It made me a little misty...

Lori, I have had no interest in, nor knowledge of, hardware. Despite this, I come daily to savor your blog. I love your command of language, and your ability to express yourself in a personal, personable, and humorous way.
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This means that I’m inhaling hardware information and awareness without being distracted by grammatical errors, illiteracy, and any of the other stumbling blocks I experience in “living online,” as I have done since my retirement.
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IR is obviously very well served by your technological expertise, and your ability to communicate that expertise to your primary audience and to those of us who never even thought about it!
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With admiration,
Linda

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